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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">'Hannibal': Is Israel Killing Its Own Captives in Gaza?<br></h1>December 16, 2023<br></div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Gaza_TimeIsRunning_PC.png" alt="" title="Gaza_TimeIsRunning_PC" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="440" height="295" style="margin-right: 25px;">
(Image: Palestine Chronicle)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/ramzy-baroud-romana-rubeo" title="Display all articles for Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo">Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo</a></strong></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><span>The question imposes itself once more: Is Israel killing its own hostages as part of the Hannibal Directive?</span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>In a statement on Saturday, Abu Obeida, the military spokesman
for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Resistance
Movement Hamas, accused Israel of “deliberately execut(ing)” three of
its captives in Gaza, “in a desperate attempt to rid (itself) of the
burdens and obligations of this issue.”</span></p>
<p><span>Abu Obeida’s claim could easily be understood as an accusation
that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu simply
does not prioritize the release of the hostages, as the Israeli leader
is fixated on prolonging the war for the sake of his own political
survival.</span></p>
<p><span>But there is more to the story. </span></p>
<p><b>‘Time is Running Out’</b></p>
<p><span>In a press conference in Beirut, top Hamas official Osama
Hamdan showed a video of the number of Israeli soldiers killed by their
own military in Gaza since the beginning of the war. </span></p>
<p><span>Each image is followed by a number, the last of which were the
three military prisoners who attempted to escape only to be killed by
their own army in the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City on Friday
morning, according to the Israeli military spokesman. </span></p>
<p><span>The Al-Qassam video, displayed by Hamdan, seems to have been
prepared just before yet another hostage was announced dead by the
Israeli army. </span></p>
<p><span>The video finished with a Hebrew phrase that translates to “Time is running out”. </span></p>
<p><span>But Hamdan’s counter was not the only reference to a timer, and to ‘time is running out’. </span></p>
<p><span>The families of Israeli military captives in Gaza also have
their own timer, in a large square in Tel Aviv, where they have
protested their government’s failure to negotiate the release of their
family members. </span></p>
<p><span>The largest protests are usually held on Saturday, and they
have been gathering momentum over time; yet the Israeli government
insists on pursuing the military option.</span></p>
<p><span>The military option, however, seems to be killing prisoners, as opposed to saving them. </span></p>
<p><b>Killing Baruch and Others</b></p>
<p><span>As early as the first days of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza,
the Palestinian Resistance announced repeatedly that the Israeli
civilian hostages and military captives have been killed along with
thousands of Palestinian civilians. </span></p>
<p><span>Their death was then understood to be a direct outcome of the
indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of Gaza, which, to this date, killed
over 18,800 Palestinians.</span></p>
<p><span>But since the start of the ground incursion by the Israeli military on October 27, that logic ceased to suffice. </span></p>
<p><span>On December 8, Israeli commanders <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/world/middleeast/israel-hostage-rescue-hamas.html">attempted</a>
to carry out a rescue operation that, if it had succeeded, would have
served as a boost of Israel’s collective confidence after the October 7
military operation carried out by the Resistance. Except, it didn’t.</span></p>
<p><span>It seems that the Israeli attackers, who attempted to save some
of the hostages, have managed to escape successfully, taking their dead
and wounded with them. </span></p>
<p><span>However, based on documented video evidence by Al-Qassam
Brigades, they also left behind a dead Israeli military captive, Sa’ar
Baruch. </span></p>
<p><span>Baruch’s body was riddled with bullets, with bullet holes going
through his chest and even left eye, raising speculation on the method
in which he was killed by his own Israeli rescuers. </span></p>
<p><span>Though Palestinian and Arab media discussed this fact at length, Israeli media analysts largely avoided it.</span></p>
<p><span>But the questions persisted, coming back in full force on
Friday, when the Israeli military admitted to the execution (they said
‘mistakenly’ killing) of three of its own soldiers who were attempting
to escape from Shejayia. </span></p>
<p><span>According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the prisoners were waving white flags when they were murdered. </span></p>
<p><span>“A soldier who was stationed on one of the upper floors of a
building in the area has identified three figures who held a long stick
that had a white fabric attached to it. The report states that, for some
reason, the soldier felt threatened and opened fire at the group,”
Haaretz </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-16/ty-article/.premium/preliminary-idf-report-hostages-killed-by-soldiers-waved-white-flag-yelled-help-hebrew/0000018c-7283-db38-a9fc-fba363100000"><span>reported</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<p><b>Killed on Purpose? </b></p>
<p><span>One could comprehend the collective panic felt by Israeli
soldiers in Shejaiya, one of the toughest Palestinian Resistance spots,
where fierce battles have already killed dozens of Israeli soldiers. </span></p>
<p><span>But what is difficult to understand is the fact that the
soldiers, who attempted to escape, had already anticipated the reaction
of their own colleagues, that of randomly killing Palestinian civilians.
So, they took their clothes off in advance, raised white flags and
shouted in Hebrew. </span></p>
<p><span>The latter are not claims made by the Palestinian Resistance but admitted by the Israelis themselves. </span></p>
<p><span>But why were these three captives shot and killed at point-blank, while giving every indication that they were not Palestinians?</span></p>
<p><span>Initially, the Israeli military alleged that the dead captives
were dressed up in ‘Arab clothes’, whatever that may be. Later on,
Israeli media, citing Israeli military sources, </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/16/1219826061/israel-hostages-gaza-hamas-palestinians">admitted</a><span> that the soldiers had taken some of their clothes off.</span></p>
<p><span>So, were they killed on purpose? And if yes, why? </span></p>
<p><b>Hannibal Directive</b></p>
<p><span>‘Hannibal Directive’ is the name of a controversial procedure
used by the Israeli army to prevent, at any cost the capture of soldiers
by enemy forces. </span></p>
<p><span>The </span><a href="https://www.zonebooks.org/books/50-forensic-architecture-violence-at-the-threshold-of-detectability"><span>directive</span></a><span>,
according to Eyal Weizmann, the founder of Forensic Architecture,
dictates that “the kidnapping must be stopped by all means, even at the
price of striking and harming our own forces”.</span></p>
<p><span>According to </span><a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/a-growing-number-of-reports-indicate-israeli-forces-responsible-for-israeli-civilian-and-military-deaths-following-october-7-attack/">testimonies</a><span>
by Israeli settlers in the Israel-Gaza border region, the Israeli
military had killed many of its own citizens as if to prevent the
Resistance from taking them as hostages. </span></p>
<p><span>These reports even made their way to the Israeli media. </span></p>
<p><span>Yasmin Porat, a survivor from the Kibbutz Be’eri, near the fence separating Gaza from Israel, </span><a href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861"><span>said</span></a><span>
in an interview with Israeli Radio that Israeli forces “undoubtedly”
killed a large number of Israeli civilians following the Hamas operation
on October 7.</span></p>
<p><span>“They eliminated everyone, including the hostages,” she told
Israeli radio. “There was very, very heavy crossfire and even tank
shelling.”</span></p>
<p><span>Considering that, per Hamdan’s counter, at least nine Israeli
hostages and captives have been killed by the Israeli military – in
addition to the latest female soldier – and the failure of Israel to
rescue a single hostage – the initial question imposes itself once more:
Is Israel killing its own hostages as part of the Hannibal Directive?</span></p>
<p><span>One may argue that the entire war on Gaza, however costly for
Palestinian civilians, also constitutes a suicide mission for the
Israeli army, as they have been killed and wounded in large and
unprecedented numbers. </span></p>
<p><span>Either way, Abu Obeida’s statement that the Israeli army “deliberately executed” the captives was not born out of a vacuum. </span></p>
<p><span>And while time is running out for those captives who are being
killed by their own military, it does not seem that Netanyahu is
concerned about the ticking timer of Hamas’ videos or that displayed in
one of Tel Aviv’s largest squares. Because that, too, keeps on ticking.</span></p>
<p><i><span>– Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of
The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest
book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ‘</span></i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Our-Vision-Liberation-Palestinian-Intellectuals/dp/1949762440"><i><span>Our Vision for Liberation</span></i></a><i><span>:
Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out’. His other
books include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’.
Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam
and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is </span></i><a href="http://www.ramzybaroud.net/"><i><span>www.ramzybaroud.net</span></i></a></p>
<p><i><span>– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor
of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online
newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign
Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism
translation.</span></i></p>
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